UPDATE: Eighth Street house fire deemed ‘suspicious’

The cause of the fire that burned the house at 1815 Eighth St. Sunday morning is judged "suspicious in nature" by the Perry Volunteer Fire Department.

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A fire "suspicious in nature" destroyed a house at 1815 Eighth St. Sunday morning.

Fire destroyed a house at 1815 Eighth St. Sunday morning.

Fire destroyed a house at 1815 Eighth St. Sunday morning.

Fire destroyed a house at 1815 Eighth St. Sunday morning.

Fire destroyed a house at 1815 Eighth St. Sunday morning. Photo courtesy Dallas County Assessor's office

The Sunday morning fire that destroyed a house on Perry’s north side has been judged “suspicious is nature,” according to a preliminary investigation by the Perry Volunteer Fire Department.

“It is still under investigation, but it is suspicious in nature,” said Perry Fire Chief Chris Hinds.

There were no injuries reported in the fire at 1815 Eighth St., which was reported about 3:50 a.m. The building was vacant, Hinds said.

“No electricity, no power to the house or anything like that,” he said. “It was empty, nobody in it or anything like that. The fire started just inside the back door, and the house wasn’t locked up or anything.”

Damage to the single-story frame house appeared to be most extensive in the southwest portion of the structure, but Hinds said the house was a total loss.

“It’s got a steel roof on it,” Hinds said, “and when we got there the entire structure of the roof was completely burned out of it. In fact, we couldn’t put anybody inside because the flooring had burned out inside the door, and it had gone up into the attic, and all the roof trusses had completely burned out. The only thing holding up the steel is the steel itself. Hell, if a walnut were to fall out of a tree onto that steel, it would probably collapse the whole thing down.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Perry Volunteer Fire Department, he said.

The 14-year-old house is owned by Barry and Lisa Willis of Perry, according to Dallas County records.

The Perry Police Department, Perry First Responders and Dallas County EMS also responded.

ThePerryNews.com will update this story as information becomes available.